


Clause of Release

by Runeless



Category: Cuphead - Fandom
Genre: Deals With The Devil, Dragons, Equations, Fantasy, Heroism, Knights - Freeform, Love, Princesses, Souls, and sometimes - Freeform, soul contract, you get to get out of them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 07:39:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12249951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Runeless/pseuds/Runeless
Summary: What would you sell your soul for?(A fine price.  A fair deal.)





	Clause of Release

**Baroness von Bon Bon**

 

She is Baroness von Bon Bon, but not by inheritance; by action. Some years ago, before Cuphead and Mugman began their great battle, Sugarland was sore oppressed under the Sweet and Sour King; and it had in it a young girl, just an average candy girl, who wanted her people to be free. A lot like the cup brothers, actually; full of fire and spit and heroism. But she had no kindly kettle to give her magic potions, all relatives perishing under some jackboot or another belonging to the King; she had nothing but herself to give.

 

So that's what she gave up. She went to a crossroads, doused all her lights, and waited til midnight, and when the Devil came a'swinging by (with King Dice at his side, arguing over some issue of semantics or another), she sold her soul for power.

 

“ Soul of a sweet young thing like you, freely given?” King Dice said with a laugh. “ Now _that's_ worth something!”

 

She'd not replied. No need to. She knew what she was giving up. An eternity as the Devil's slave, in exchange for setting her people free. A fair deal, as such deals went. A fine price to pay.

 

“ Alright,” the Devil said, chuckling. “ Here ya go!”

 

And he poured a kettle of chocolate over her, and from that day forward she was Bon Bon; the chocolate had contained in it all the great and terrible power her soul had paid for, a new woman over the thin candy core of the girl she had been. And with it, she gathered an army, people who she granted a portion of her great power to- a gumball man who was a dancer, an old soldier jawbreaker, a waffle priest, others who joined as she killed the King's minions to dismantle his empire.

 

And at the end, with a candy cane shotgun, she battled the old King while her apportioned chosen held off the remnants of his army at the gates. It was a fierce battle that rocked the old castle to its core, but when it was over, the monster was dead, and Bon Bon- still just Bon Bon then- was victorious.

 

And as she sat on the throne, tired, the people declared her a Queen. She didn't take the title- took Baroness instead, lowest of all noble titles- her little way of reminding the people (and herself) that she came from common stock. And she set about rearranging the country, so that something like the Sweet and Sour King could never happen again, no more people drowned in salt, no more innocents killed by thugs in soldier's uniforms. No more nobles, a constitution, word of law and law of the land; and when it was done, she rested, knowing the Devil was coming to take his due, and not overly concerned. With her soul she had bought her people's freedom, her people's happiness, her people's joy. A fine price. A fair deal.

 

But when the Devil showed up, her people threw him out, numbers beating power, for they were unwilling to let him collect the soul of the woman who had saved the realm. She had cried sweet sugar tears then, to see them rise up for her- not just her closest, her chosen who had went from soldiers to friends, but the common folk, who took up battered weapons and charged en masse at the monster, such that for every one the Devil struck down ten took their place. They would not let him have her, and finally he left, fuming, swearing revenge... but leaving, and her soul and her contract still inside her, still hers.

 

She had sworn then to lead them forever, for the kindness they had shown her, for saving not her life but her soul. And lead them she did, and well, too, which is all any leader can ask to do.

 

Until they came. They came, and proved deadly, deadly foes, and she had forbidden her people war with them- she did not want them hurt. Only her friends, her companions, had stayed, because that was their nature- they would not leave her, no matter what, no matter what orders she screamed at them. Her friends until the end and at the end, always. The girl inside her was touched, the woman scared for her friends and grateful for their loyalty.

 

It didn't help, though it at least made the duo work for it.

 

When it was done, she had wept. She had wept in frustration, in sorrow, in fear- she was afraid. She could admit it. When they beat her and took her soul contract- took her very essence with them- she had been afraid. What punishments would the Devil inflict, on one who had overstayed their welcome?

 

But then they set her free.

 

(She felt it the moment the fires touched the contract, her soul screaming free of the paper to return to her at long last... and still with all the power the Devil had given her to boot, the perfect happy ending. She forgave the boys everything in that moment; they had in their hands all the power over the Inkwell Isles they could ask for, and they had thrown it away. In their porcelain heads they had a moral core that resembled the candy one she had, still inside her chocolate shell after all these years- and at the celebration, she gives them both a kiss on the cheeks, not from the Baroness but from the girl inside her who recognized heroes like herself.)

 

**Grim Matchstick**

 

Once, a long time ago, there was a beautiful kingdom hidden in the mountains, with a shining princess, a noble knight, and a powerful dragon who lived in a tall tower.

 

But the dragon stuttered, and was awkward, lonely and friendless, and when the noble knight went to slay the dragon, he realized quickly the dragon was no threat. And he took him back with him, to introduce him to the princess- who was herself awkward, lonely, and friendless. And the two became fast friends, loneliness the only demon that must be killed by two sets of hands; from him the princess learned what it was like to fly, riding his back above the clouds, and from her the dragon learned how to read, traveling to distant lands through ink on paper, and neither could say who got the better of the deal.

 

And the knight was content, for he was less concerned with the slaying of dragons than with the safety of the people, an oddity amongst his violent, glory-seeking brethren, and the better for it. And he became friends with the two as well, in time, for they amused him with their mutual awkwardnesses and struck him as something akin to his own children. And the kingdom grew used to the friendly dragon, who had given himself a dramatic name- Grim Matchstick!- to sound tougher than he was, for he was really a rather big softie on the inside. They even moved the royal court into his tower, for it really _was_ a rather majestic tower, quite a lovely centerpiece for the kingdom. And everyone was happy, for a time.

 

But then came the wizard.

 

He was... monstrous. Powerful. Full of a will to hurt and the power to enact his will. Desiring power and the gathering of all souls under his white robes, to do as he commanded or be destroyed; the kind of Devil that needs to make no Deals to be dangerous. The knight was beaten when he went to fight him, slinking home barely alive to pass out from his wounds, almost to pass away. The princess, too, went to war, and her spells failed before the wizard's might, the ruler left broken in a bed besides the likewise-comatose knight.

 

And Grim, who could not fight, who was barely dangerous despite his size and fiery breath, who wept for his two friends, thought of the spooky stories the Princess had shared; thought of the Devil, to whom you could sell your most precious, your everything, and in exchange receive your own wildest dreams. He could think of nothing else, no other force that might work; and so he went down, down into the darkest parts of the forest, where even his fires made no light, and there he began to drink, for it is well known that a man who drinks alone at night in the darkest parts of the forest will soon have a drinking buddy, whether he wants to or not (and he does not, if he has any sense.)

 

The Devil was there, soon enough, before Grim's eyes, and he downed half a tankard before saying, “ So, what'cha want?”

 

“ I w-w-want the p-princess and the knight alive and w-w-w-well, “ Grim said, screwing his courage to the sticking place, for the Devil was nearly of a size with him and he was unused to dealing with beings his own size, “ and the p-p-p-power to stop the wizard.”

 

“ It'll cost your soul,” said another new voice near him, turning out to be a fellow giant with dice for a head and snazzy purple clothes. “ Your eternity. You know that, right?”

 

For them, he could do anything; for his friends, his best friends in the whole wide world, who had taught him reading and love and friendship and all the world. Yes, yes, for them, his soul and all eternity was such a fair price to pay, such a good deal.

 

And he did not stutter when he said, “ Yes.”

 

The power was not so much power- for power Grim had- as the knowledge of how to use it, to be brave and confident and aggressive. It was enough, and under the assaults of a many-headed hydra, the wizard's power failed. Demonic doctors healed the knight and the princess- the Devil keeps his word, it's one reason he can bargain the way he does at all- even as Grim's multi-headed offensive stopped the wizard cold, cast him down into the depths of the earth, all his power undone at last.

 

And as they came out, alive, the Devil approached to collect, for he wanted a guard dog for his casino and Grim looked perfect for the job. This was ok. A better afterlife than he had expected, in all honesty, serving as a guard dog wasn't glamorous, but it was a fair deal for his friend's lives and his home's safety.

 

But as he had fought for them, so too did the knight and princess fight for him. And not even with King Dice's help could the Devil overcome a maiden's pure heart, nor a sword arm anchored by holy purpose, even as Grim tried to tell them it was ok, and he didn't mind going if they were safe. The Devil was driven off and even to this day, he will not return to that placid kingdom in the mountains, for even the Sugarlanders had not crushed him so utterly.

 

And he was hailed as the land's greatest hero, who had sold his own soul to save them. He was bashful, and stuttering, but full of pride; for he had done what no one else could or should have to do. And the kingdom was happy.

 

Until they came.

 

(He is luckiest of the debtors, he feels; he was knocked out cold, and spent the entire time between the brothers' victory over him and and his release asleep. His soul returns to him, waking him, and he gets to see it for a second before it pops back in- a little thing, weak and flickering, but hot as lava, hot as magma, pure and full of fiery spirit. Not a bad soul to have, perhaps, for a stuttering and friendly dragon, for a hero of the people. He forgives the brothers; to have so much power and to throw it away is an act of kindness as worthy as any he has ever heard of. The princess and the knight burst into the room moments later, weeping to see him well, and hug his great form. And the kingdom was happy.)

 

**Dr. Kahl**

 

Dr. Kahl is a man of precision, and mathematics. He finds them warm, and wonders why others find them cold; perhaps they simply don't know what to add up. All life is math, after all. Take his relationship with his robot, for instance; it is not a cold relationship and it is not a cold equation. Family Connection + Compatible Personalities + Personal Responsibility for One's Creations = Love. His robot is his child, and they (the robot's preferred pronoun) are loved by the good doctor. He is many things, the doctor, but he is a good father, which is a feat too few manage.

 

They love him back. When he had no money- when he was forced to loot the scrapyard in the hopes of finding resources for his projects, so many all burning up in his brain- the robot had... had sold their soul. Precision Engineering + Father's Love + a Thinking Brain = Soul. The first robot soul. And the Devil had been eager for such a prize, to steal it and parade it before all the forces of Heaven, to laugh and gambol such a sweet thing. Rarity + Uniqueness = Value.

 

He'd had no idea. They'd sold their soul for _him_ , how could he be worthy of it? The Devil had given him a tremendous amount of money, told him it was a _bargain_ , and gaily danced off with his precious child's soul.

 

So he did what any father would do. He calmly, quietly, set about the invasion of hell. Love + Harm to Loved One = Revenge. His child had been taken. With the money, he searched for weapons to suit his new cause, and found emeralds powered by chaos, precisely the kind of thing that could set souls free. He built tremendous devices- all kinds of things- even a new body for his child. A mighty body, that he could control to get in, and that his child could control to get back _out_.

 

The brothers Kettle are the second to invade Hell; Dr. Kahl did it first, to rescue a mechanical soul. He charged the Casino in his great fighting machine, battling all King Dice's goons- only the rabbit, only the magician, gave him any pause. Magic + Bloodthirst = Difficulty. But with Hopus Pocus out of the way, the rest were simple. The Tipsy Troop were smashed. Pip and Dot knocked down. Mangosteen sunk into a corner pocket. Father's Rage + Giant Robot = Victory. King Dice himself beaten, the Devil kicked into a corner of his own throne room, escaping through a hole to hell- and his child's soul there amongst the treasures. With hellfire nipping mechanical heels, they had escaped, into the night. The good doctor had wept. Revenge Accomplished + Child Saved = Happy Tears.

 

His child had proven pleased and pleased with their new form, and soon they were back in the scrapyard, as though they had never left, looking for parts. They were rich now, but it never hurt to save a bit of cash. Just him and his child, the way it should have always been.  
  
(The boys beat him and his child both- he'll give them credit, the duo are the toughest fighters he's ever met- and he is busy preparing for a second assault on hell when his child- just a head now, after the brutal battle, the first thing he'll fix is giving his child a new body again- beeps and gives a surprised shout; their soul contract had been burned. Their soul flies back to them, a glorious thing of cogs and gears, shining and shining. The boys had burned the contracts. He salutes them from his lab and later from their ceremony. Unexpected Freedom + Kindness = Heroism. A warm enough equation for a celebration.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> Cuphead is AMAZING and I love it! Just a random bit of fun headcanon lore I have. These three are my favorites, excepting Cala Maria... but i couldn't come up with one for her. Still, she's awesome! I remember when she was called Surf Mama.


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